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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24963628">Stealing your heart was the hardest theft of my life</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amandjnx/pseuds/Amandjnx'>Amandjnx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Awkward Tension, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Flirting as fuck, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian Carol Danvers, Lesbian Natasha Romanov, Lesbian Sex, Smut, Thieves!Carolnat, and oblivious, but not too much, it's for the plot, shifting point of view, they are both useless gays</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:41:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24963628</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amandjnx/pseuds/Amandjnx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Carol Danvers and Natasha Romanoff were both thieves, excelling in their own specialties, and couldn't stand each other since their first steps in the thieving world.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carol Danvers/Natasha Romanov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Everything change</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Carol Danvers was the best at what she did, picking safes. She was famous in the thieving world for her skills, she could open safes without leaving traces, as if she knew their codes just by seeing them. She was the best at that but not at disabling security systems, that she couldn't do. Her MO was known of the police, she would cut the electricity of the building she would steal from, open the safe within twenty minutes and escape before the police could arrive on the scene and catch her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That was what she was doing at the moment, earphones muting every sounds around her, only the clicks of the lock reaching her eardrums, enlightened by only a flash-light, she was opening one of the most difficult safe of her carrier.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She was progressing nicely, faster than she had expected, when suddenly the lights switched themselves back on. At first blinded by the change of brightness and deaf from the earphones, she took them off and look behind her, thinking it was it, she had been caught.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, well… look who's trying to steal my diamonds," Carol heard and she recognised this voice in her heart beat, her worst enemy, Natasha Romanoff.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The Russian born thief was known for her capacity to hack into security systems, Carol's weakness. Their history goes back when they started stealing. It was during Carol's first big theft, Natasha wanted the same thing as the blonde, emeralds form Brazil, worth thousands of dollars, and called the police just to annoy the rookie thief. Carol went to jail for six months for that and, when she left prison, she declared war to Natasha. They interfered in each other's thefts, stealing before the other and taunting them when they did or calling the police anonymously before a theft therefore the items were moved somewhere else.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha Romanoff had a flaw though, she drilled into the safes, she didn't know how to pick them, which always left marks. Hopefully for her she had very impressive coding skills, no security system could best her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You've got to be kidding me, Romanoff. I'm working here, get out, I need calm," Carol groaned as she tried to get her focus back on the lock, her eyes closed as she took a long deep breath.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, I need space to do my thing, so please, move your ass Danvers," Natasha replied ans tried to push Carol away from the safe but the blonde didn't move a bit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol glared at her nemesis, all her annoyance and anger channelled in her hazelnut eyes. Natasha didn't flinch, she wasn't scared of this look any more, maybe she had been in the past but she had learnt things about the blonde over the years, and she knew that she wasn't bad, quite the contrary, she heard that Carol was the nicest girl with her friend and that she wouldn't hurt anyone, like a little puppy. The Russian thief knew how she could act around Carol and she was going to use it at her advantage.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What if we share?" Natasha offered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol couldn't fight a laugh, "Share, with you? Go to hell."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh come on, Danvers, I just gave your little ass fifteen additional minutes to open this, give me something in return."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol took time to think, as much as she hated the idea of giving Natasha a part of her loot, she could use more time to learn more about this kind of safe, they were rare and she couldn't experience on them very often, "You get a third, not more."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha scoffed, "Is this a joke? A third?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol put back her earphones and went back to work, "It's that or nothing, if you want it, stay, otherwise, get out."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha wanted more, but a third of the money they could make with those gemstones was still a million dollar, not a negligible amount of money. She didn't really hesitate, at least she would get something and Carol was doing all the hard work.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Ten minutes, move your ass Danvers," Natasha warned as she looked at her watch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol sighed loudly and wiped beams of sweat off her forehead with her wrist, "Can you stop talking. And shut up about my ass. What the fuck is wrong with you."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Guess I'm gay, that's the problem," Natasha muttered to herself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The redhead stood behind Carol, observing her technique with attention. She had to admit that seeing Carol working was quite impressive, all her motions were deeply thought yet she was going so fast. Natasha had worked with lock-pickers in the past and they were way slower than Carol.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol was almost done when she felt a pressure on her shoulder and groaned as she took off her earphones, "What?!” she shouted as she turned her head but then saw the worry on Natasha's face and heard sirens from afar, "You said ten minutes!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, I was wrong," Natasha replied as she started putting Carol's stuff in her bag.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Eh, don't touch that!" the blonde interjected as Natasha was about to take off her device from the safe.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You can't open it Danvers, we gotta go."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I didn't say I wanted to keep going, but this cost a fucking lot of money, you can't just rip it off the safe."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha glanced at Carol before looking through the window to try and spot the police and from where they were coming, "Well, get it off asap, we have three minutes max to get out before the cops arrive and cuff us."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Done," Carol said as she past by Natasha, putting her jacket back on her shoulders, walking fast towards the back exit of the building.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The blonde didn't bother to hold the door for Natasha or to wait for her, she left the building and entered her van. She threw her stuff in the back in frustration and started the engine but someone opened the passenger's door, "What the fuck, Romanoff. Don't you have a car?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Actually no, I don't," Natasha admitted as she buckled her seat belt.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You came on foot?" Carol exclaimed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes. Now shut up and drive."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol did as she was asked with a loud groan and shifted into the first gear. A few meters further, they passed two police cars and three others later, but none of them followed the thieves. Carol wondered, she could just drop Natasha on the street and go back to her hideout, planning a new theft, but she felt like she had to drive the redhead somewhere safe and her place was one of those.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The ride was quite, Carol was thinking about the safe and how close she was from opening it, her first success to pick this type it would have been, if Natasha hadn't bother her. Natasha wasn't really thinking, her head was empty as she stared at Carol, her cheek pressed against her knuckle. Before she realised it, they where parked in Carol's garage and blonde was out of the car.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha hesitated, she could just leave but she was mad for the diamonds she missed because of Carol and wanted to tell her, "You owe me one million dollar, Danvers. Don't you think I will ever forget that."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol's jaw dropped, how dare she tell her that, "You're kidding right? Because, as I remember it, I was doing beautifully before you interrupted me."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You wouldn't have had all this time without me, I shut down the security at least five minutes before I arrived at your floor. If it wasn't for me, you would be in a prison cell as we speak."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol clenched her fists, she wanted to punch the redhead in the face but also wouldn't want to scratch such a gorgeous woman. Damn, why was her enemy so attractive, "I didn't need your shitty hacking thing. Power outages happen all the time, the cops wouldn't have come so quickly if they hadn't noticed the security had been shut down."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha laughed, "You ignorant, they didn't."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol took off her jacket and threw it on the coffee table of her living area, "Why did they arrived then?" she asked and shrugged, suggesting that it was because of Natasha again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Because of your archaic methods perhaps," Natasha said, her hands on her hips. Carol lost herself staring at the redhead's curves for a few seconds and then shook her head to get her thought back in place, "Just, back away from my shit the next time,"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh my God, can't you see that it was your fault?" Natasha shouted, stepping closer to Carol.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol walked a few paces, the gap between them decreasing more and more until their faces were centimetres away, "No it wasn't, you distracted me. I could've gotten those diamonds if you didn't show up."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Natasha shook her head, "Just shut up, you are making a fool of yourself."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Make me."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before she could react, Natasha was kissing Carol with eager, pushing her backwards, her hands gripped at Carol's hips, until her back hit the wall just next to the sofa. Soon, Carol found herself breathless, her pants and knickers down at her ankles and Natasha on her knees, between her legs, making sure that the only sounds that would come out of the blonde's mouth would be her moans of pleasure. Her head tilted back, breathing heavily, Carol pulled Natasha's hair as the other woman sucked her clit, not too much so she didn't bother her but enough for the safe-breaker to feel Natasha all over her. She came with a loud moan of the name of the girl fucking her, a bit ashamed by how easily she made her shut up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Back on her feet, Natasha took off Carol's tank top before kissing her, the blonde moaning as she felt the remaining taste of her own cum on the other woman's lips.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Only dressed with a bra, Carol felt it wasn't fair for her to be exposed that much and ripped Natasha's blouse, a few buttons probably breaking under her strong motion. She pushed Natasha on the sofa before straddling her hips. She made her mission to leave a mark of her passing on the redhead's neck and found the right spot, close to Natasha's collarbone. Natasha was holding her moans as Carol took off her bra and sucked hard her nipple, but let out a deep groan when one of Carol's hand found her abandoned breast, her back curled up as the pressure between her legs increased, becoming unbearable. Hopefully for her dignity, Carol was soon done with her breasts and kissed her again as she was unbuckling the belt of her trousers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Shit," she breathed as she felt Carol's hand sliding under her knickers. The blonde swallowed Natasha's moans as she rubbed fast circles around the redhead's clit, her fingers already coated with her wetness. Natasha gasped as Carol teased her entrance with her middle finger and groaned when she brought her finger to her mouth to taste her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They shared a glance, Natasha eyes begging Carol to give her what she wanted but the blonde wasn't going to give in so easily. Natasha ran her hand in Carol's short blonde hair, its softness soothing her a little although her pussy was still aching because of the need to be filled with Carol's fingers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a lingering and tender kiss, Carol slipped her hand back in Natasha's underwear and, this time, went for it directly, two fingers slowly entering the redhead. She felt Natasha's pussy clenching and knew she was already close to the edge. Carol thrust into Natasha, enjoying each loud moans coming from the woman under her, each one more pleading for release than the one before.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Look at me," Carol said to a panting-mess cheeks-blushed eyes-closed Natasha, "you are not getting anything if you don't say my name," she threatened when Natasha's gaze managed to meet hers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The redhead shut her eyes closed again and rocked her hips desperately, looking for a bit more friction as Carol had stopped her motion inside her. The blonde chuckled and began again to slowly thrust her fingers in and out Natasha's pussy, but it was still not enough.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She was so close yet so far, it wouldn't take much for Natasha to hit her climax, she knew it but so did Carol and she had the experience to know how far she could go without giving Natasha what she wanted.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Romanoff?" The blonde purred to Natasha's ear with a shit-eating smirk. Carol curled her fingers and that was just what Natasha needed to give up and give in, "Carol pl-" she begged and with one last curl of her finger, meeting Natasha's hips rocking, Carol made the redhead come around her fingers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her hands gripped at Carol's short hair, Natasha slowly rode out her orgasm, the blonde making sure she was pleased before taking her fingers out of her. Carol hummed as she tasted Natasha's cum, sucking her own finger while the redhead was catching her breath.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they were clean, Carol stroked her fingers in Natasha's messy long red hair before leaning in to kiss her. Natasha groaned as she tasted herself on Carol's lips, quite an ironic situation considering that she did the exact same thing to Carol a few minutes earlier. Feeling strength coming back in her body, Natasha sat up before flipping Carol, the other woman ending up flat on her back with Natasha on top of her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wordlessly, Natasha gave Carol's lips a quick chaste kiss before laying on her body, her head resting on the blonde's chest. Carol didn't protest, having topless Natasha as her human blanket was something she didn't know she would experience in her life but it was damn enjoyable.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After kissing Natasha's temple, Carol took the blanket on the backrest of the sofa and covered the already dozing off redhead with it, she didn't want her human blanket to be cold.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol woke up hours later, the sun starting to show up in the sky. Her human blanket was gone, replaced by a normal wool made one. She sighed, why was she surprised that Natasha left like a thief in the night, she was literally a thief. Carol stood up and stretched before looking for her clothes that she found on the ground, giving her flashes of what opened the evening before and how they ended up there. Sitting back on the sofa in her knickers and tank top, she took her phone and found a note underneath it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you for last night.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You still owe me 1 million dollars in diamonds tho :p</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Your favourite thief xx</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol chuckled, she knew that last line was ironic but the rest must be true, she did do a good job at fucking Natasha and she had promised her part of the money she didn't manage to get.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Laughing at the memories of Natasha begging her to come, she thought that she wanted to do this more often. She slouched on the sofa as she tossed the note on the coffee table but her eyes caught something that made her sat up instantly. There were words written on the other side of the paper. No, not only words, also numbers, it was Natasha's phone number.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Contact me when you get the money you owe me ;)</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carol shook her head as she took her phone and added Natasha in her contact list, "You're gonna help me getting those stones Romanoff, I ain't gonna do the job alone."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Getting ready</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Carol called Natasha a couple of days later, after her informer gave her new intelligences about diamonds arriving in town. She would never admit it, but the blonde would need the red haired thief to steal those stones, the security was one of the best she had ever encounter, and the times she had to face better systems than this one she was accompanied with an expert in the matter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha arrived to Carol's place almost too fast, the blonde thought. She didn't know where the other woman was living but it was still unlikely that she was less than twenty minutes away, it was like Natasha was in the neighbourhood when she called. Or maybe Carol was thinking too much because of what happened the last time she saw the redhead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The blonde was agreeably surprised to see that the love mark on Natasha's neck was still there, it had faded a bit but was visible and she couldn't stop a smirk forming on her lips when Natasha noticed she was looking at it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol led Natasha to her operation room, both of them walking in an awkward silence until they entered the room, "All the infos are here, get yourself comfortable, I gotta call someone, it'll be quick," Carol said and left the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha analysed the area, it was quite an impressive centre of operation the blonde had. On the table in the centre of the room were multiple plans of buildings with all the exits and secret doors and stuff that Natasha supposed were what Carol used to pick safes and other locks. There was a white board on which Carol was making her plans of action for a theft, on it was already written the type of safe that was in the building they would break into as well as other essential informations for their plan to be perfect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Taking another look at the table, Natasha's attention got drawn by the device she almost broke when they were in a hurry, running away from the police a couple of days ago. It seemed to be home made, Natasha didn't know if Carol had the skills to build an object of this kind but it wouldn't surprise her if she did, the blonde was smart enough to be able to do it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She carefully took a closer look of the device, manipulating it as if it was made of thin glass but almost let it fall off her hands as Carol spoke up from behind her, "Wanna try it, Romanoff? I've got locks easy to open back there," she offered, her voice just above a whisper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I um… I really am bad with locks, that's why I drill safes," Natasha stammered, the presence of the blonde so close to her giving her flashes of what happened between them two nights before, "And, to be honest, I don't know how you can stay concentrate so long."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"When you have these on," Carol began as she took the earphones in her hand, "you only hear three things: your heart beating, your breathing and the clicks of the lock," she said as she leaned closer to Natasha's ear, her slow breathing on the redhead's skin making goosebumps appear all over her skin, "You gotta overlook the first two things, which is the hardest part," Carol chuckled quietly as she glanced at Natasha, the other woman's gaze fixed on the device, "and when you manage to do that, you just have to be careful when the sounds of the clicks changes. It's not that complicated really."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yet you are the only person I know who can do it so easily," said Natasha calmly yet she wanted the scream because of her closeness to Carol, "That's because other thieves get overwhelmed by their heartbeats or their breathings. Those sounds can drive you crazy, especially in a situation of stress like when you are stealing gemstones."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But you, Danvers, you don't get crazy," Natasha turned to see Carol, the latter brushing the lower back of Natasha before taking Natasha's hand to give her the headphones, "I've learn how to master my emotions, that's why I'm the best at it. Here, try it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Totally ignoring what Natasha had said a few minutes before, Carol went to a big box where she put all the locks she had, "I trained on those for weeks, and this one was the very first I succeeded at opening without cheating," she laughed as she remembered her younger self getting angry because she couldn't open the locks without looking at one or several numbers of the codes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha put on one earphone and took the device in her hand, "Put it there," Carol whispered and guided Natasha's hand, "and now put on this and listen to the clicks."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a small hesitation, Natasha put the second earphone and was immediately deafened. It was just Carol had described it, she could heard her heart beating in her left ear and the sound of her shaky breaths was overwhelming. She glanced at Carol who looked down at the locks and nodded, telling Natasha to try to open it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She did forget about her heart, even though it was pounding very loudly, but her breathing was too heavy to overlook. She wasn't in a stressful situation as Carol said, or maybe having the blonde so close to her was one, because she didn't know what to think about what happened between them. The only way she had to stop hearing it was to hold her breath, and that's what she did. She supposed it wasn't the best way to do it, but with Carol beside her Natasha knew she wouldn't be able to calm down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first clicks were surprisingly loud and she grimaced as it hurt her eardrums, but then she got used to it and continued. Carol was attentively studying Natasha's motions, the redhead was not so bad for a beginner, she was very patient but needed to often take a pause to breathe.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she heard a first click different than all the other, a higher pitch, Natasha gasped discreetly and directly turned the lock in a clockwise direction, opposite of how she started. She quickly found the second number of the code but was panting between her attempts the find the other two. Carol gestured her to take off the earphones and took the lock, "Holding your breath is a way of doing it but if you can't open it after a few tries you just won't open it at all," she said and, with just one earphone on, opened the lock after a dozen of seconds. Natasha's eyes widened, even if she knew Carol was highly experienced and could probably open those things in her sleep, she was still incredibly fast, "those are easy, sometimes I don't even use this as a challenge for myself."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"And you are back to being arrogant," Natasha said to tease the blonde and also to try to relax a bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol finally stepped away from Natasha after she put her safe-breaking device and the lock down and walked to the other side of the table, the redhead letting out a sigh she knew she had been holding but wouldn't accept why she did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, what can I say, I'm good at what I do, may as well say it, right?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha chuckled, "Yeah, I guess you can do that."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They got to work, each one of them figuring out the best and fastest way to get what they wanted in their domain of expertise, Carol searching for the best way in and out and how long she would need to open the safe and Natasha on her laptop and tablet, coding the best program to disable the security system.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a few hours of planning, they both came out with the best ways for this theft, "I can deactivate the security system via my tablet long enough for us to enter but for you to do your things, I'll have to do it manually inside," Natasha explained, "Meanwhile you'll be able to start cracking the safe, you sure you can open it?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You doubt my skills, Romanoff?" Carol replied with a smirk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Just making sure, I don't wanna let my stuff here if in the end you cannot open it," Carol scoffed as she heard that sentence, she wasn't certain Natasha said that seriously or if she was playing with her, "Don't worry, I've opened dozens of those, I could do this with my eyes closed."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"How do we enter?" Natasha asked as she looked at the plan of the building and the map.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"There's a door in the back of the building, easy to pick but we can't get out from it, there's no knot on the other side and blocking it would be too obvious," Natasha gazed at Carol in confusion, "You have a way out, right? I'm not jumping out of a window," she said knowingly, she did it once when she wasn't prepared enough for a theft and it hurt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"A side door," Carol pointed on the plan of the building, "it gets on the street but it's hidden. And in case we get caught there's a window we can use. We'll be parked beside it, quick escape, the alley isn't on the map, it's from a part of the neighbouring building that was destroyed a few weeks ago, I don't think the police would think about blocking it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol was showing everything on the map as she explained how they could exit the building to Natasha but the latter was more focused on Carol's face, staring at her moving lips than listening to what they were saying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Romanoff? Could you at least act like you care?" Carol said loudly after a snap of her fingers, "Sorry, I was just… It's a good plan, good job Danvers."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol raised an eyebrow, "You were what?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's just that I kinda dig your hair like that," Natasha admitted as she looked away from the blonde.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You do?" Carol said with a high pitched voice, rubbing the back of her head to hide her surprise. She was taken aback, she didn't expect a compliment coming from her long time enemy, and could never have imagined that it would affect her so much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, I mean, you look very gay like this but it's kinda hot."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol walked around the table, slowly advancing towards Natasha, "Gay is what I am so I guess it's a good thing," she said softly before stopping, and she was way too close from Natasha, in the redhead's opinion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It is… yeah," Natasha wavered, looking up in Carol's shining brown eyes. She licked her lips as Carol leaned on one arm against the table, her gaze not losing sight of the other woman, "Maybe I should go," Natasha managed to say distinctly, "I'll get some rest and I come back here tomorrow for, you know," she added and cleared her throat as she finally looked away, but the feeling of Carol's eyes still on her was overwhelming, she wasn't in control of the situation and the blonde was aware of it as much as Natasha.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol's attitude suddenly changed, it was difficult for her to admit but she didn't want the redhead to leave, "You could stay if you want. My couch is not bad sleeping on," Carol offered nicely, her voice too soft for the badass she was, especially when she was talking to Natasha Romanoff.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha noticed the change in Carol's behaviour and used it at her advantage. The blonde had thrown her a line that Natasha wouldn't miss for anything in the world, because teasing Carol was her favourite activity, apart from hacking, "If by that you mean you on your couch and me in your bed then I guess we have a deal," she smirked and Carol's cheeks turned red within seconds, "Um… that's not what I was think-" Carol stammered and Natasha cut her off, "I was kidding Danvers, I'll take the couch, don't worry."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What Natasha wasn't saying was that she hoped Carol would ask her to stay, first of all because it would be easier for their operation, and because she wanted to spend time with the blonde, to understand why she had urges to be with her, near her, all the time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was quite awkward between them at first, now that the theft was planned they had nothing to do, but hopefully it was quickly time for dinner and that cleared the air. Carol made the food, a mixed salad, pretty simple but it was what was the best the day best a big operation like this, it helped to be focus, or so Carol said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha didn't had a ritual before thefts, unlike Carol. She'd just study the security systems she'd have to hack into and then go for it, drilling safes was not something you needed preparation for. Carol was curious to know why Natasha never went with a car to a place she would rob and the latter didn't give her an answer and she convinced herself that it was a secret she would never tell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hours passed and the two thieves genuinely enjoyed their moment together. As if they were old friends catching up, they talked about their debuts, their first thefts and the few times they encountered each other in the past. They also shared some details of their private lives, Carol telling Natasha that she had never had a serious relationship per se, it was only for the sex that she had seen a woman more than one night, because she was amazingly good in bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha said that she never had relationships either even though it was a lie. She had one that lasted but she got played by the woman who used her to get an incredible loot that she didn't share with her, she left before Natasha got her part and tried to frame her for one of her thefts to make sure she wouldn't try to find her. After that she never trusted partners again, until Carol. Even with the blonde she sometimes restrained herself, afraid to be hurt again but she was oddly at ease with her, for a person she used to hate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Realising it was late, Carol cleaned the dishes before giving Natasha a pillow and covers for the sofa. She felt bad to sleep in her bed, there was enough space for two but the redhead insisted that she didn't want the bed, after internally considering sleeping with Carol in it. They would be too tempted, Natasha thought, and they needed to rest to be at their best the next day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was thinking of what she could be doing with Carol that Natasha fall asleep, her lips tugged into a soft smile as the image of the blonde was her last thought.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Feel free to give me your thoughts in the comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Shit happens</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The theft being planned during the evening, Carol and Natasha had another day to spend together, and it was as awkward and full of flirtation as the day before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It started with Carol waking up before Natasha. She thought, as the house host, that she should prepare breakfast for her guest, and so she did. The blonde put the tray with Natasha's breakfast on the coffee table beside her and left to go take a shower. When she came back to the living area, Natasha was awake but hadn't touch any of the food, "You are not hungry?" Carol asked, confused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I am but I averagely trust you, Danvers. You could've poisoned this, that way I'd die and you'd owe me nothing."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't.. I don't want you to die… and I even more don't wanna kill you," Carol felt the necessity to justify herself, it hurt her that Natasha could think that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha burst into laughter as she saw Carol's face, the blonde sadness and confusion softening the Russian born thief, "I was kidding you dumb baby. Thank you for this, really, I just thought we could eat together, that's why I waited."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh! Okay," Carol exclaimed with a high pitched voice before going to the kitchen to make herself a coffee and took an apple. It was a less sophisticated breakfast than the one she made for Natasha but the stress of the upcoming theft was starting to kick in her body, or was it something else that made her tummy hurt?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The day went by with the two thieves chatting about various subjects, what they liked, disliked, politics and more, both of them using every single chance they had to tease the other with witty comments or to subtly flirt with hidden compliments.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By the end of the afternoon they weren't even being smooth about it any more and it kept going as they packed their bags for the theft and during the ride as Carol was driving.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol parked in a dark no through road, doing a U-turn to be ready to leave, the van next to the window they would have to use potentially, only if the theft went wrong, "You ready Romanoff?" Carol said as she turned off the engine of her old van.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You bet your ass I am, let's go get those diamonds."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>
    <span>
      <span>
        <span>They took their respective stuffs from the trunk, Carol a bag with what she needed to open the safe and Natasha her tablet and cables to hack the security system and </span>
      </span>
    </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>
      <span>
        <span>they </span>
      </span>
    </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>
      <span>
        <span>climbed a wall to have access to the back door, where they would enter. </span>
      </span>
    </span>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was getting really dark outside but the light from the screen of Natasha's electronic device helped Carol analysing the lock she would have to pick.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>
    <span>
      <span>
        <span>Natasha managed to connect herself to the </span>
      </span>
    </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>
      <span>
        <span>Wi-Fi</span>
      </span>
    </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>
      <span>
        <span> of the building and entered the security system easily, sending in it a malware that would make the system think that all the doors are closed and shut down the cameras for fifteen minutes. It wasn't the perfect code, Carol needed more time than that, but it was the only one she had at the moment so they would adapt and be careful while she hadn't totally deactivated the security.</span>
      </span>
    </span>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol was waiting, leaning against the wall next to the door, for Natasha to do her hacking thingy with her tablet, "I'm getting bored over there, Romanoff."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well… if you'd stop staring at me maybe I'd be more focus," Natasha replied with a smirk, her eyes not leaving her tablet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol raised her arms in defeat, "Right, sorry. I didn't know I was that much of a distraction for you."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I mean, when a dumbass is checking you up like that, you might wonder why a little."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol blushed, "i- I was not ch-checking you up," she stammered on her words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"And I'm done."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Do your thing, Danvers!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Right!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol took her tools out of the inside pocket of her jacket and proceeded to the lock picking, "You sure it won't trigger anything, right?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha crossed her arms to her chest and acted offended, "Doubt my skills Danvers?" she said with a playful tone, fighting with herself not to laugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol grinned so hard her eyes were closed, but she still opened the door, even blinded by her close eyelids, "After you, miss Romanoff," Carol said as she held the door for the redhead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They entered and went to the 'control room', which was actually a wooden box hanging on the ceiling of the room where the safe was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You good here?" Carol wondered as she analysed the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I think so, yeah. Just need something to reach this," Natasha said, pointing at the servers hidden in the box.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Use the shelf. Meanwhile, I'll be doing my thing, the safe's under that desk."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Okay, I'll tell you if I need anything."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The last image Carol had of Natasha was her, climbing on the shelf, her back pressed on the wall opposite to it, at least 1.60 metres above the ground, with her tablet on her lap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol bent down and took her stuff out of her bag, earphones plugged into the device of her conception, that she connected to the lock to hear the clicks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Why don't you sit down, Danvers? And since when are you wearing boots with heels?" Natasha asked after a glance at the blonde from across the room, "You are wearing running shoes because you come on foot, which is insane if you ask me, and you are levitating between a wall and a shelf so I think you don't have any advice to give me."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, sure," Natasha muttered, she rather end the conversation, too distracted by Carol to actually do what she was supposed to. She tried her hardest to keep her eyes on her tablet, writing codes to totally disable the security system but the sight of Carol's body, her ass, in the corner of her eye made it impossible.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm sure I can crack this before you break into the system," Carol shouted to tease Natasha, progressing quite fast at opening the safe, "You couldn't have enter without me though, Danvers," the redhead replied wisely, chuckling as she could imagine Carol rolling her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Fair point, but still, you need me more than I need you."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I can drill into this, it'd be faster."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"And louder," Carol said and looked back at Natasha who stuck her tongue out at her, "Fair point," the redhead repeated, making the blonde giggle like a little girl, "what about we stop talking and focus on our own things."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Good idea."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha was still trying to overwrite the codes, it was harder than she thought but she had the skills to do it, and she still had five minutes before the system would realised it had been tricked by her program.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She took a bit of time to relax, tilting her head to the side to stare at Carol, her shining short golden hair and her perfect curves. Trying to stretch one of her leg, the shelf didn't support the weight on so little surface of one foot and broke, causing Natasha to fall, the whole weight of her body plus the speed of the fall absorbed by her ankle and disconnecting the tablet from the server.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Shit," she groaned, trying to stand up but her articulation hurt too much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol turned around, her eyes widening when she saw Natasha, down on the ground with pain on her face. She didn't think twice and disconnected her device from the safe, put it back in her backpack and ran towards the redhead to help her, "Natasha, what happened?" Carol asked with panic in her voice, not even correcting herself after she called the redhead by her first name for the first time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha grimaced as she tried again to get up on her own, "I fell, I think it triggered the alarm," she frowned and looked at the security servers, one of the warning lights now flickering red.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But there's no sound," Carol shrugged innocently and Natasha scoffed, "Silent alarm, Danvers. The cops must be on their way already."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We better hurry then," Carol helped Natasha standing up, wrapping her arm around her waist to support her weight while the redhead had her arm around Carol's shoulders, leaning on her. Natasha groaned the first time she used her aching ankle to walk but bit her lips and kept walking even thought the pain was extremely difficult to bear, she had to, she couldn't be the reason Carol would go to jail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They walked fast to the door, Carol was about to take her tools out of her pocket when Natasha stopped her, "Use the window, we don't have time for this," she advised, "go first."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol left Natasha's side to open the window, it was just big enough for them to pass through it, but they were closer to Carol's van. She climbed on the boxes and slid through the window, looking back at Natasha to tell her it was her turn.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha passed her her bag before hopping to the wall, hearing noises from outside the room, "The cops are there."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Then move your ass, Nat," Carol said, stretching her hand to help Natasha. She was halfway through the window when the cops entered the room and shouted, ordering them to freeze, their guns pointed at them. Carol pulled Natasha out but not faster enough for her to dodged the single bullet a policeman shot, probably by accident since the thieves were not armed, the cops weren't allowed to shoot at them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Holy shit!" Natasha screamed out of pain, the bullet shredding the muscles of her thigh, the same side she injured her ankle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol lifted Natasha from the ground and pulled her to her van. She opened the door of the passenger seat and let Natasha get in the vehicle while she ran to the trunk, threw her bag and took the first aid kit. She sat on the driver seat and turned on the engine with one hand, while her other hand was searching for bandages, "Put pressure on the wound," she ordered as she shifted up the gear. As anticipated, the cops weren't blocking this alley and Carol managed to get them out without a police car following them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha's eyes were shut close, her chest rising up as she was breathing heavily to control the pain, "Fucking cops, they really don't give a fuck about the law."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Keep that for the judge."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm not going to court for this, drive," One hand on the steering wheel, Carol took her phone and called someone, putting the speaker phone, "What the fuck are you doing?" Natasha interjected and took the phone from Carol's hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Calling a friend, he's a doc, he'll take good care of you," Natasha features softened lightly as she gave back the phone to the blonde.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>"Hello." </em>
  <span>a man's voice said from the speaker.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Stephen, can you be at my place in fifteen minutes?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>"I'll be there in ten, what have you done this time?" </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"A friend of mine got shot," Carol said with a shaking voice, a bit more affected by what happened than she thought she was, "And it hurts like a motherfucker!" Natasha whimpered, gritting her teeth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>"Right, where?" </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The back of her leg, she's bleeding a lot but I don't think it's the femoral."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>"Okay, keep pressure on the wound and drive fast." </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Thank you Stephen."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol drove as fast as her van let her, so they arrived at the same time as her friend, almost running over him as she parked in the garage. The blonde carried Natasha in her arms and settled her down on the table, the redhead laying on her side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's getting worse I think," Carol said as she walked to the other side of the table to be face to face with Natasha.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, definitely," Natasha screamed, clenching her fist to soothe the pain. Mindlessly, Carol took Natasha's hand in hers, "Squeeze as hard as you need, I can take it," she whispered, stroking the fingers of her free hand in Natasha's wavy red hair. Natasha nodded, not willing to hurt Carol but the pain was too much to bear for her not to try anything to make it go away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What's your name?" The doctor said, cutting the Natasha's jeans to have a better access to the wound, "Natasha," Carol answered for her, the other woman in too much pain to let anything else than whimper out of her mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Alright, Natasha, I'm gonna disinfect the wound before taking the bullet out of your leg, both will hurt a lot but I'll need you to stay still."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'll do my best," Natasha replied, her throat dry and sore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Stephen cleaned the wound, pouring disinfectant directly in and around the hole that the bullet created. Natasha screamed in pain, wriggling and squeezing Carol's hand, "Carol, I need you to make her stop moving or I won't be able to take it out."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Okay but how?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't know, find a way," he said firmly after a glare at the blonde and went back to work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol wanted to punch him in the face, he gave her an impossible mission, she couldn't prevent the pain from running through Natasha's body, she was no magician. Seeing Natasha in so much pain made Carol's heart ache, she <em>had</em> to do something. The only thing she was doing was whispering soft words, asking her to stop moving, but it obviously wasn't enough considering how Natasha was writhing in pain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of a sudden, she had an idea, and decided to try it. Without warning, she leaned over Natasha, cupped her cheek with her free hand and kissed her. She felt Natasha's features soothed under her touch and her whimpers turned into humming of pleasure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol pulled away, finding Natasha smiling, "Keep going, it works."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol replied with a soft smile before capturing Natasha's lips again, feeling the redhead's fingertips on her cheek. They kissed slowly, Carol not deepening the kiss because of Stephen's presence, but she definitely wanted to. Natasha's hand slid up in Carol's short hair, her thumb slowly running up and down her skull as she pulled the blonde closer to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor, after taking the bullet out of Natasha's muscles, closed the wound, the task being easier now that Natasha wasn't moving to fight the pain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They broke the kiss just when Stephen was done, tying the strings into a knot and covered the wound with bandages, "Carol, you know what do to, checking the wound every three hours and all that?" he asked but the two women were too occupied, gazing into each other's eyes, to listen to what Stephen was saying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I take that as a yes. You take care," He greeted them and left.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol eventually hummed to acknowledge she heard him but the man was long gone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Wanna lie down on the couch?" Carol asked, already helping Natasha to sat up. The redhead leaned against the edge of the table and groaned as the pressure on her right leg came back a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Your ankle still hurts?" Carol demanded, remembering Natasha's other injury, "Honestly I forgot about it till you reminded me, and I think it's okay now."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You still shouldn't walk though, you need to rest that leg."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha put her weight on Carol's shoulders to stand up and hopped to the sofa, the blonde helping her with her strong arm around her hips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The blonde sat down at one edge of the sofa and tugged Natasha towards her, the redhead sitting as well before lying down with a cushion under her knee to prevent her thigh from unnecessary friction with the sofa, and her head resting on Carol's lap, the blonde woman playing with her red strands of hair. Carol pulled the blanket off the backrest and unfolded it to cover Natasha's legs and midsection.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Nat, can I use your tablet for a minute?" Carol asked softly, the tablet already in her hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Sure," replied quietly an already dozing off Natasha, the blood she lost exhausting her. She thought about asking why Carol needed her tablet, but she fell asleep before she managed to do so.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Admitting things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Natasha hadn't realised she had fallen asleep until a sharp pain coming from her thigh woke her up with a start, the entirety of her leg feeling sore. She expected to throw her head back into Carol's lap but, when she did, she felt a softer surface. Carol had left and put a pillow under Natasha's head so she would sleep comfortably.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her green gaze wandered around the room, looking for a tall blonde but she was nowhere to be found. Sighing heavily, Natasha thought Carol left her, maybe she freaked out after what happened between them earlier but then Natasha remembered they were at her place, meaning she shouldn't be that far.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sat up on the sofa, rubbing the sore muscles of her thigh to soothe the pain but it had the opposite effect and she cursed herself for even trying to trick Mother Nature.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stood up, her whole weight on her functioning leg and limped slowly to the kitchen, muffled whimpers escaping her throat every time she leaned a slight bit on her injured leg. She managed to climb the few stairs that separated the kitchen from the living area and saw Carol, looking at the night sky through the window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey there, thief!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Natasha?" Carol said as she turned to see from where the voice came, "what are you doing here, you shouldn't be walking," she added, running toward Natasha. She took a chair on her way and helped her sitting down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I think the doc said you must change that every three hours," Natasha reminded her as she had actually heard what Stephen Strange said before leaving earlier, even if at the time she was hypnotised by Carol's hazelnut eyes and still had the taste of her lips on hers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I already did."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh!" Natasha gasped, "how long have I been out?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Almost five hours," Carol couldn't hold her laughter, she had watched Natasha sleeping for most of the night, she wasn't that much of a sleeper, plus she was too worried about Natasha's injury to rest and potentially miss the moment when she would have to clean and change her bandages.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Wow, I'm totally lost, what time is it then?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"6:40," Carol looked over her shoulder toward the window before adding, "I was going to watch the sunrise, wanna come?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha chuckled, she had never watched a sunrise nor a sunset, both sounded too romantic for her but, oddly, the idea of watching it with Carol felt nice, not cheesy like in the movies, "Um, yeah, let's go."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol wrapped her arm around Nat to support her and walked her to the window, keeping her grip strong as the other woman's face straightened every time her foot touched the ground.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sky was still really dark, but the thieves could guess from where the sun would rise by the few beams coming from the horizon, at first orange and then pink and yellow. The more the star rose the more colour appeared, peach and magenta, amber and light blue, the clouds changing into their usual whiteness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still tired from the blood lost and the little sleep she got, Natasha let her head fall on Carol's shoulder as she watched the beauty of the nature, feeling the blonde's thumb slowly running up and down her waist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I had an idea," Carol broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between them, "you heard about the diamonds from India that'll be in town soon?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha scoffed, "Of course I heard," she was one of the most respected thief of Los Angeles, she had sources, a lot, and they always gave their infos to her first, how could Carol doubt that? "the most difficult security system of LA to break into, that's where they'll be, why?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, I think I can get them."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Not without me. You can't enter that facility with your old tricks," Natasha assured, half because of her pride and half because she was worried Carol would get caught trying to break in, but she wouldn't admit the second part.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Actually, I can, you just have to tell me how to use this," Carol stated, giving Natasha her tablet back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Those are just programs, you need to actually hack into that system, and it's way too advanced from me to teach you," Natasha explained as she put the tablet on the ledge of the window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I just need the thing you used yesterday, the safe in that building is an old school thing, easy to open, I can do it in five minutes," Natasha frowned, it was a bad idea in her opinion, "You wanna break in with my fifteen minutes malware, open the safe and leave, that <em>is</em> crazy."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's not, I can do it," Carol was adamant but Natasha had to talk her down. She didn't want the blonde to take such a risk, they could wait until other gemstones show up in town, when Natasha would be healed and able to go with Carol, "What if you can't, what if my program doesn't work, or the safe isn't the one you thought? I don't think they would hide 5 million dollars in diamonds in a safe a child could open."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol giggled, "You're saying I'm a child?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No," Natasha changed position to be face to face with Carol, resisting the urge to cup her adorable face, "I'm saying it's too dangerous."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I have to try," Carol replied softly, her hands pulling Natasha's body against hers to support her weight, but also to be close to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol looked away, "Why?" Natasha asked as her hands slid up Carol's arm to reach her jaw, the tip of her fingers lightly brushing her skin. She tried to make the blonde look at her but she simply glanced in her direction before looking away again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Because.." The blonde breathed deeply and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she found the emerald gaze, "I'm done with all this, the hiding after a theft, the living in a crappy place when I could leave and buy a fucking villa… I've been stealing things my whole life, I just wanna do one last big theft and quit, and I hope you'll follow me."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Carol I-" Natasha's voice wavered, she didn't expect the blonde to ask her this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Just think about it," Carol specified, "at least leave the country with me, you don't need to steal any more, not with two and a half millions. We'll go to Mexico, after that you can go wherever you want."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha raised an eyebrow, "Two and a half? You only owe me one million."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"And I want to give you half of the loot, I think it's fair after everything that happened," The blonde said with a soft smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Carol, you don't have to."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I know, Nat," Carol replied and slipped a strand of Natasha's hair behind her ear, "I want to."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Okay," Natasha whispered before pulling Carol into a tight hug, her body warming up as she felt the blonde all over her, her cold breathing on her skin of her neck sending shivers down her spine. She tucked her head in the crook of Carol's neck as they rocked slightly, taking in every seconds of this moment with Carol.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the day past they got prepared for the break-in, Natasha trying to write a better algorithm for the security system and Carol studying the map of the building, "I can't do anything if I don't know what's their exact security system, the only program that works with all of them is the one I used yesterday. Sorry but I can't offer you more time if I don't get more infos."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"A friend of mine is on it, he will call me as soon as he get something."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"How many days left?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Two, maybe three days," Carol said as she sent another text to her contact. They needed intelligences, as much as possible and the sooner the better, "Well, he better hurry," Natasha mumbled, as if reading Carol's mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They ordered take-out for dinner and kept working while eating, "I can't believe I'm saying this," Carol swallowed, "but I gotta go on foot."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, it's probably the better way. They'll expect someone will try to steal those stones, a van would be too obvious."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, and it gives me more options for escapes. In the meantime you will be able to get the van ready, as soon as I come back we leave," Natasha yawned, "We'll prepare everything the day before, I'll just wait for you with the engine on."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol stood up from her chair, cleaned the plates and went to stand behind Natasha, her hands rubbing her shoulders, "You need to rest. You know I've got a bed right? Way more comfortable than the couch you insist on sleeping on."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha sighed, she wanted to share the bed with Carol but, at the same time, she was still fighting the feelings she had for the blonde. After a quick time of reflection, she gave in, the feelings were growing way faster than what she could have ever imagined and won easily in the end, "Fine."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They went to the bed room together, only because Natasha couldn't walk without Carol's help, the latter wasn't tired yet. Natasha fell asleep a couple of minutes after laying on the bed, letting Carol taking care of her wound. It was getting better, less swelling and the stitches seemed to work, at least it wasn't bleeding any more like the first time she changed the bandages during the night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While and after cleaning the wound, Carol checked her phone every two minutes for a text from her friend, she really needed those informations and the more she had to wait to get them, the more stressed she became. She got bored of waiting after an hour and lied down in bed beside Natasha, staring at her sleepy yet beautiful face, until she fell asleep herself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha woke up by the sound of a cell phone vibrating on a wooden surface. Not knowing where was hers, she ignored the sound, thinking it was Carol's and that she would answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The phone stopped before the blonde could pick up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She yawned quietly, making the less sound possible not to bother Natasha in her sleep, not aware that she was awake.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha heard her sighed and wondered what would make Carol in such a mood at this time of the night. She would soon get her answer because the blonde called back whomever tried to reach her, sitting on the side of the mattress, her hand supporting her head as she leaned on her elbow, "Buck, it's still early in LA, what's going on?" She asked, her voice just louder than a whisper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha could hear that the person on the other side of the call was a man but she couldn't quite distinguish what he was saying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, that sucks, but I have to do it, I'm done with all this and stealing those stones would be an amazing last theft."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The redhead opened her eyes discreetly and saw Carol rubbing her temples, whatever news her friend had gave her, it must be bad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'll miss doing bad things with you too but I promise you she's worth it, I've never felt like this before."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha felt her cheeks heating up, she shouldn't be listening to that conversation, Carol was confessing something very private to a friend and, even if she was talking about her, it wasn't fair of her to listen, but she couldn't stop herself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I just hope she'll come with me."</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>"I will."</em> Natasha said in her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I really like her, Buck… no, I'm not in love yet, I just-… I know she was my enemy but I was young and stupid, I hadn't realised what I was missing. She is so smart and nice and funny, spending time with her is just so easy."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha could hear in Carol's voice that she was smiling as she talked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"As soon as we are safe I'll contact you, you're not losing me."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol was willing to leave her country and friends to run away with Natasha, the redhead discovered that, as well as the blonde's feelings for her in a matter of minutes. She shouldn't have but she couldn't really not listen when you think about it. Yeah, she could have notify Carol she was awake, so the blonde wouldn't have told those things to her friend or she would have left the room during her call, but it was too late now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Alright, bye Bucky," Carol hung up the call and lied down on her bed. She didn't move of a dozen of seconds and then lean to kiss Natasha's temple, the woman still awake and ashamed she spied on her partner in crime. Natasha couldn't move, couldn't open her eyes, couldn't do anything, yet she wanted to tell Carol that she wanted to go with her and that she liked her a lot, but she didn't, she stayed there, lying on her belly, faking sleepiness when she could just admit to Carol they felt the same way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Natasha woke up again the sun was rising in the sky and the birds singing. She groaned as she struggled opening her eyes because of the light coming from outside, blinding her. Hopefully her messy strands of hair cover her face were being a sun visor that prevented her retina to get burn.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Opening her eyes slightly, she felt a hot breath on the skin of her arm, and, as her vision got less and less blurry, she saw Carol's face, a few centimetres away from her limb, fast asleep. She dumbly smiled, thinking Carol's resting face was one of the most adorable things she had ever seen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As she tried to get up, a wave of pain reminded her of the hole she had in the back of her leg, and that she couldn't walk without harming herself more. She dropped her head down into the pillow and sighed, she had to wait until Carol woke up to get out of bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha dozed while waiting, so much that she didn't hear Carol getting out of bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first thing the blonde did was to go to the bathroom to take the medical supplies to do her every-three-hours task. Natasha groaned into her pillow, both to let Carol know she was awake and because her leg still hurt a lot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Carol was done, Natasha rolled on the bed to lie on her back and saw Carol, completely lost in her thoughts, sitting on the edge of the mattress, "Hey, what is it?" she spoke up to get the other woman's attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol lingered to reply, scratching her skull, "I gotta do it tonight," she finally answered with a weak tone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What? I thought we still had a couple of days to get prepared," Natasha said loudly and sat beside the blonde.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"They are moving the diamonds earlier, my friend gave me the tip during the night. If I wait, they might already be gone when I'll get there so I have to go just after they moved them."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha's hand found Carol's, she gently squeezed it so the blonde would look at her, "Carol this is too dangerous, what if there's still guards? I don't want you to get caught," Natasha wasn't even trying to hide how worried she was, she couldn't stay in Carol's hideout, waiting for her, knowing that there were high chances that the police would get her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'll be fine, I just need you to show me how to get into the security system."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha sighed but nodded in agreement, taking her tablet on her lap to show Carol how the program worked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Natasha, what about what I asked you yesterday?… about you running away with me," Carol asked shyly, staring at the screen of the tablet to avoid Natasha's green gaze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You're definitely not leaving me alone, wanted in the US with two and a half million dollars of diamonds in my pocket and a no functional leg."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, of course, but I meant after that, after we leave the country… Come with me."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you trying to tell me something Carol?" Natasha chuckled, she didn't understand where the blonde was going with her proposition.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I just... I really like you and I thought I could try the dating thing… with you," Carol's gaze finally found Natasha's but the second they met the redhead looked away. She had a hard time finding her words, which made the blonde worry, "Or not, maybe I imagined all this, I don't know..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hearing that, Natasha looked back at Carol and smiled, "You didn't imagine anything Carol," she said quietly, her free hand reaching Carol's cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I didn't?" Carol asked in a whisper, her eyes filled with emotions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha shook her head, "No. I really like you too, and I'd love to come with you," she said before pulling Carol into a soft kiss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It felt so liberating for the both of them to finally get their feelings off their chests, they really needed this conversation after the ambiguous few days they just had.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol's hands didn't left her lap, one of them still intertwined with Natasha's though. She knew that if she wrapped her arms around Natasha's or cupped her cheek the situation would escalate and they couldn't lose too much time in making out and sex, they had to get ready for tonight's operation. The blonde reluctantly pulled away, kissing Natasha's cheek and forehead before the redhead rested her head on Carol's shoulder, wrapping her arm around the safe-breaker's waist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We have to get ready, Nat," Carol whispered and kissed Natasha's hairline. The Russian thief hugged her partner in crime tighter to protest but eventually pulled out of the hug.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While Natasha gathered the things Carol needed for the theft, the latter went to Natasha's place to get what she asked for, clothing and objects important to her, that she couldn't leave behind her. When Carol came back to her place, she took her clothes and other stuff she wanted to take to run away and Natasha checked if Carol had taken everything she asked for, not that she didn't trust her but she'd rather be a hundred percent sure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I've got everything," Carol said as she put two duffel bags and a suitcase on the ground beside the backdoor of her van with Natasha's stuff, "I just gotta take some food and drinks for the road but otherwise, it's all good."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So it's about the time I go steal those diamonds then," Carol started as she put her backpack with her stuff and Nat's tablet inside on her shoulders. She walked towards Natasha and took her hand, "I need twenty minutes to get there, fifteen minutes in and twenty minutes to come back, which means you gotta be ready in an hour."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I will," Natasha replied and squeezed the blonde's hand. Carol let go of Natasha's hand and take a step back but Natasha stopped her, "Carol, wait!" she shouted, grabbed Carol's T-shirt and tugged the blonde towards her to kiss her lips, "Be careful please," she whispered as they pulled away. Carol nodded, walking a few paces backward, softly smiling as she stared at the redhead and turned around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha watched her leaving, leaning against the van, lost in her thoughts. A few minutes passed after Carol had left her sight and she didn't move, her brain having a hard time believing that she would run away with the woman that used to be the person she hated the most.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She shook her head and got back to work, putting the luggage in the back of the van, everything had to be ready for them to leave when Carol would come back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Last theft</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Carol was walking towards the building she would break-in. It was owned by a rich young man who made a fortune by creating a video game that was a huge success. He equipped all his properties with high security, the best if you believed Natasha, because he was becoming paranoid that someone would want to steal from him, and he was right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>From the infos Carol got from Bucky, this guy bought five million dollars in diamonds just to show that world he could, and that was his biggest mistake because every single thief in Los Angeles wanted to show him they could steal them from him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol arrived in the street of the building and saw it from afar, all the lights were off, it was late in the night and nobody was working at this time. The blonde entered the adjacent alley and found the door she would use to get in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her backpack at her feet, she opened it to take Natasha's tablet. She turned it on and the hacking program was there, ready to be used, she just had to activate the Wi-Fi and connect it to the internet of the building. Just like the redhead had anticipated, the tablet did everything on its own and Carol just had to press on the 'send' button the release the malware in the security system. She did and took her tools to open the door, only a few seconds were needed for her to succeed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She put everything back in her backpack as she climbed the stairs to arrive to the third floor, where the safe was. Getting her safe breaking stuff ready, Carol gasped and almost let her device fall on the ground as she realised the safe was not the one she thought, it was the model she never managed to open before, the one she could have opened if Natasha hadn't disturb her during her penultimate theft. She stared at it for a few seconds, thinking she should go back to her place, go back to Natasha and plan something else, wait for the redhead to be healed to do this theft with her. It was the safest option, she only had ten minutes left with Natasha's program and knew she wouldn't make it, but she couldn't come back empty handed, Natasha would be so disappointed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a deep breath, she decided to stay and chose her plan of action. She set an alarm clock on her phone, that would ring a minute before the end of Natasha's program and would go cut the electricity of this floor, her usual move, and pray that the police didn't come too fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol put her earphones on and started working but couldn't focus on the clicks, her heart was too loud, she was way too much nervous. She stopped and inhaled deeply but it didn't help. She had only five minutes left on her watch before having to go disabling the security and she wanted to have at least half of the work done by then. She needed something to soothe her and she found it by thinking about Natasha. Carol pictures her in her head, remembered what they said a few hours ago and her heartbeat got slower, calmer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With that relaxed state, Carol got back to work. She turned the lock, carefully listening to every clicks and heard the first different one. It was barely perceptible but the extra time Natasha gave her the other day helped a lot, she recognised the change of sounds thanks to it. She thanked her girlfriend in her head and continued, finding the second and third numbers before the alarm rang.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The blonde jumped as she heard the sound of the music and, after turning it off, she stood up and went to the circuit breaker. She lowered the main lever and the whole floor got in the dark. With her flash-light, she walked back to the safe, sat down cross-legged and got back to work, "I'll come back to you, Natasha. It might take longer than I thought, but I will," she muttered to herself before turning the lock to find the last four numbers of the code.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next one was hard to find, Carol went very slowly to be sure she wouldn't miss it. She noted the first three numbers in case she failed they next ones but she was better than that and didn't need to restart everything. She still took five minutes for this one, there were still three numbers to go and the more time she would take the more possible it would be for her to get caught. The next two numbers were as hard as the previous one, the clicks sounded like they were all the same and totally different at the same time. Carol's hands were starting to be very sweaty and shaky, her heart was fluttering because of the pressure she was under and thinking about Natasha didn't help any more unfortunately.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol groaned at herself for being so distracted, it really wasn't the moment but she couldn't do anything to overpass it, she had to finish her theft like a beginner, overwhelmed by the noises coming from her own body. The flash-light in her mouth, Carol took a long breath, wiped away the beams of sweat that were slowly running down her temples and cheeks, rubbed her eyes and went back to work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ten minutes after she found the penultimate number, she was still looking for the last one, analysing carefully each click to be sure the sound didn't change. It had been at least forty minutes since she got here, she should already be back at her place and driving to get away with Natasha but there she was stuck in front of a safe, incapable to break it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was so desperate that she undid everything, took off her earphones to relax a bit and entered the six first numbers of the code again before searching the last one. Just when she was about to put the earphones back on she heard sirens from afar, considering the sound they must be a kilometre away, maybe closer, meaning she had to be really fast if she wanted to get out without handcuffs at her wrists.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha was meticulously tidying hers and Carol's stuff in the back of the van. Despite her sore leg, she was going pretty quickly and everything but the provisions were loaded after twenty minutes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The redhead imagine that Carol was about to enter the building at this point and hoped her program would work, "Why wouldn't it?" she said to herself with confidence, "it works every time."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She limped to the kitchen and put foods and drinks in a cool box, not too much because Natasha knew they would stop at a diner to eat proper food, probably when they would be out of the US. After that she was done with her task and went to the van and sat at her place on the passenger seat, the keys ready to turn on the engine when Carol would arrive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked at the clock on her phone every three minutes, impatient to see Carol entering the garage. As soon as the blonde would get there, they both would start a new chapter of their lives, together as girlfriends in a yet to be chosen new country.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The more the one hour mark approached, the more Natasha got nervous. Carol should be there any minute yet, exactly an hour after she left, the blonde hadn't come back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha started worrying, she didn't know what was happening, Carol should be there already. She stayed on her seat but turned the engine on, thinking it would make their escape easier and stared at her watch as every second felt like decades, her non-injured leg bouncing because of how nervous she was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol cursed herself in her head, the last number of the code was literally five clicks after the previous one and she had missed it the first time. Shaking her head, she opened the safe and took the diamonds that she put in a small plastic bag, "Hope I'm not gonna get arrested because of you guys," she said to the gemstones and put them in the inside pocket of her jacket. She disconnected her device from the safe and ran towards the exit, hearing people talking outside, the police.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She had different options to escape and waited to analyse which one was the best. Of course, the front door was surrounded with cops, so was the main back door, the one she picked to enter but the one coming from the basement seemed to be free from people guarding it. Carol took her chance and went to the underground floor and slowly walked up the stairs until she was at the trapdoor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Again, she listened to the noise coming from outside and waited until she heard the cops entering the building to get out. She ran out of the alley, looking back to see that no one was following her or had seen her, and slowed her pace when she was in the main street, running would look suspicious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Walking away from the scene of her crime, Carol allowed herself to laugh. She had, once again, played the police and was running away with millions of dollars in her pocket.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing how late she was she walked faster, Natasha must be so worried to not see her arriving at her hideout, she had to get there fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The time past and still not sign of Carol. Natasha started to get really worried for her, what if she got arrested, the redhead wouldn't know unless she got the news on her phone. She asked one of her contacts if they had heard anything about a blonde thief being caught on the radio of the police but they heard nothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was weird that Carol didn't text the redhead when she was done. And there, Natasha started to overthink. She thought that Carol played her, like her ex did, she stole the diamonds and left with the whole loot for herself and Natasha alone and injured behind her. She wanted to scream, how could she be so naive, why would Carol love her, of course she still hated her, she went to jail because of Natasha after all, she could finally get payback.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha needed to get out, to get some air and stepped out of the van. She walked a few paces even if her leg hurt and tried to be reasonable, maybe the building was further away than Carol had expected, maybe she needed more than twenty minutes to get there and to come back. The safe could be harder to open than what Carol had anticipated, just like Natasha said, they could have changed the safe to another better one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There had to be an explanation, Carol couldn't just have disappeared, not after what she told her friend over the phone. Natasha was supposed to be asleep when the blonde said she liked her, it couldn't be a part of some plan to fool the redhead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha was so deeply in her thought, imagining the worst case scenario, that she didn't hear the fast footsteps behind her coming to her location, "Nat!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turned around and saw Carol walking towards her, all sweaty and panting, "Oh, Carol, thank God you're okay," she said with relief as she took the blonde in her arms, holding her tight, as if her life depended on it, "I was so scared, what happened?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol stepped out of the embrace to kiss Natasha, her hands gently cupping the smaller woman's cheeks, "I'll tell you on the road, we gotta go," she replied and kissed Natasha again before helping her stepping in the van.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She went to the driver seat, fastened her seatbelt and drove them away from LA.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It wasn't with a little heartache that they both left this city. Carol was born and raised here, and Natasha arrived when she was one year old, so she only remembered this place. They became who they were in the city of angles, they learnt how to steal here. If it wasn't for Los Angeles and all the rich people that lived here, they would never have met by trying to steal the same emerald. Without Los Angeles, they wouldn't have been enemies, and lovers either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was hard for both of them to leave, they knew it, and when the passed by the sign with 'Los Angeles' written in big characters, Natasha took Carol's hand and squeezed it gently to comfort her. The blonde, her eyes still on the road, smiled and returned the gesture, giving not only her support but also her trust to a woman she thought she would never appreciate, but a little amount of time showed her that they were actually meant to be together.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. New beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The couple of thieves didn't take a break until they were out of the US, after more than four hours of driving. Carol told Natasha what happened back in the building when they had left Los Angeles and were on a straight line highway. The redhead had a hard time believe her girlfriend made it without getting caught, the cops really were idiots and blind, she thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha was scared that the customs would catch them at the frontier but the blonde had planned this escape smartly, she knew where they could pass without running into the police.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They stopped an hour or so later, it was almost 4 AM and Carol was tired of driving. If Natasha wasn't injured she could have taken the wheel and Carol could have rested but the redhead's leg was still too painful for her to drive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They agreed not to stop at a motel and to sleep in the back of the van instead. Before going to bed, Carol changed Natasha's bandages. The redhead did it herself a few hours earlier while the safe-breaker was driving, "You did such a shitty job,” Carol chuckled as she cleaned the wound with a gauze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Try patching up the back of your leg, seated in a moving van driven by you," Natasha replied with an aggressive tone, glaring back at Carol who was still laughing, "I know you dumbass, I'm messing with you," she said as an apology. They both fell silent as Carol finished her task assiduously, checking if the wound was healing well and carefully putting plasters on it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha sat up when the blonde was done and extended her hand to ask Carol to sat beside her. She obliged and wrapped her arm around Natasha's shoulders, she pulled her close and kissed her temple.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Eh, I'm sorry I snapped at you like that, I didn't mean to," Natasha mumbled as she rested her head on Carol's shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's okay. You are tired, with both are, we just need to rest and we'll feel better."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha scoffed, "Well, good luck with that! Two people sleeping here will be hard."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you saying my van isn't comfy, miss Romanoff?" Carol asked with a faux-offended voice, "I haven't said anything, miss Danvers, you are making things up," Natasha replied with the same tone before laughters came out of both their mouths.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You know, I still am wondering how you never used a car for your thefts," Carol said as they stopped giggling, "The answer is actually stupid. When I started, I didn't have a car, neither did I have the money to buy one so I went on foot and when I finally had enough I was so used to go on foot that I never bought one."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I thought there was a crazy explanation behind it but no, it's just a boring story," Carol said before bursting into laughters again and Natasha lightly punched her shoulder for it, "Eh! Stop! It's not funny!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yes it is!" Carol insisted, making her most adorable face to soften the redhead, which worked easily. Natasha hated that Carol could infuriate her at make her want to hug her at the same time, "You are such a baby!" she said in an unsuccessful attempt to show her annoyance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"And you love it," Carol replied, her voice back to its usual softness, "You love it," she repeated in a whisper before pulling Natasha into a tender kiss, "How did I not see how beautiful you are," the blonde wondered, stroking her fingers in Natasha's red hair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Carol…" Natasha replied plaintively, she knew this conversation would come one day, the 'we could have been together sooner' thing, but she didn't want to have it, it was pointless.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol lost herself in Natasha's features, her pink cheeks, deep green eyes, her soft lips. Natasha was the definition of a woman for her, "I'm serious, Natasha," she eventually murmured, locking her gaze with the other woman's, "You are perfect, you are the woman I always dreamed of," she sighed lightly, "you were under my nose and I didn't realise it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha stroked Carol's short hair away from her face, "The most important is that we are together now, don't you think?" she replied before kissing Carol's nose gently, her hand softly cupping her cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, but imagine how good of a team we could have been if we had teamed up earlier," Carol pointed out wisely, "we would have been unstoppable."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, that's true," Natasha agreed with a sigh, thinking about all the things she and Carol could have done as a team, all the diamonds, rubies, and other gemstones they could have stolen, "I just think that if I hadn't been so stupid and filled with rage I would have seen how wonderful you are earlier."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Carol, I was a dumbass too. I never tried to get to know you, I just wanted to annoy you. We were young and immature and I think that our relationship wouldn't have worked."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol sighed sharply, "Yeah… probably."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha looked at her girlfriend with a soft smile on her lips before kissing her cheek, "What if we stop thinking and go to sleep huh," she suggested and laid down on the mattress. Carol didn't say anything and joined Natasha in bed, loosely wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist. The redhead did the same and tucked her head under Carol's chin, the latter kissing her forehead before turning off the light of the van.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol laughed at herself as she realised that Natasha was right, her van really wasn't comfortable. Or maybe it wasn't for her because the redhead seemed to be already asleep. Carol gave herself some credit, maybe the van wasn't what made Natasha fall asleep so easily, maybe it was the safety that Carol's arms provided. The blonde hoped it was it, because she was feeling the same and, even if the mattress was kind of useless, Carol still managed to fall asleep, soothed by Natasha's slow breathing on the skin of her neck.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha was standing on a balcony, looking at the waves crashing onto the fine sandy beach, the gusts of wind making her red locks fly in the air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It had been only a few days but she already loved this place, she had never seen such a breath taking landscape in Los Angeles, yet there was the sea and the beach but none were like this one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Discreetly, Carol joined her outside and hugged her from behind, she wrapped her arms around Natasha as she kissed her temple, "It was Bucky. He said that there is no warrant on us back there from the police. Apparently mixing your methods and mine confused them, they think there is a new thief in town."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Then we can stay here, I'm starting to love Australia," Natasha admitted, her hands finding Carol's on her waist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After that night in the van, they decided on a destination as they drove to Mexico City. Natasha preferred a destination where the country didn't have Agreement on extradition with the US, just in case the police had found out that Carol was the thief who stole the diamonds but Carol wanted to go to Australia, it was her dream and she had a friend here who helped them with finding a house.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We are staying as long as you want," Carol whispered to Natasha's ear before leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, "Great because I wanna learn how to surf."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol chuckled against Natasha's skin, "We are staying forever then," she teased but Natasha took it badly and turned in Carol's hold, glaring at the blonde until she flinched and apologised, "All right!" she said, her hands up in the air in defeat, "I'll ask Thor if he can teach you, I haven't enough patience to do it myself."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Why do you think I'll be bad at it?" Natasha asked seriously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Natasha, you fell from a shelf and injured your ankle!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It broke! It was not my fault," Natasha interjected, gently pushing Carol away from her but the blonde came back and hugged her girlfriend who struggled at first, trying to get out of the embrace but gave in a few seconds later, incapable of resisting Carol's charms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a long moment, just the both of them holding each other, Carol pulled out but kept Natasha close to her, her hand on Natasha's waist, "Hey, I was thinking and um…" she stopped and looked at the sunset on her left and then at the woman in front of her. Rays of sun were enlightening Natasha's face, making her usually dark green eyes lighter and shinier. For a few seconds, Carol lost herself in her girlfriend's beauty ans she forgot what she wanted to say in the first place, "I think I'm in love with you, Natasha."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha chuckled discreetly as she saw how serious Carol was and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck, "Are you, really?" she asked, her lips tugged into a small smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol shyly nodded, her cheeks turning red. She was terrified to say it because she didn't know how Natasha would react but she needed to get it out of her chest, "Well, that's good because I think I'm in love with you too," Natasha replied before pulling Carol into a passionate kiss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The blonde smiled into the kiss, she didn't expect Natasha to say it back, they had been together for barely a week, it was way too early but it was how Carol felt, and Natasha as well. They lived such an intense couple of weeks together and discovered so much about each other, more than they could ever have thought that it wasn't surprising for Carol that they caught feelings so fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natasha had the same smile on her face as they parted, it was liberating for her to tell Carol she loved her back, especially after her last relationship.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a kiss on Natasha's forehead, Carol slipped back behind her and they watched the sunset, the redhead feeling at home in the safety of Carol's arms. They took in the view from a house that would probably become theirs, when the diamonds would be sold they'd have enough money to live a peaceful life here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carol Danvers and Natasha Romanoff, ex-thieves, former enemies, have now a bright future in front of them and only their minds could decide what it would be made of.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to everyone of you who read this fictions, I hope it gave you some joy in this weird time we are living.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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